Despite numerous seconds, thirds and top fives, Lincoln Kearchner (pictured in the helmet) had yet to taste victory in five years of racing Legend cars. That is until last Sunday at Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania, when won the East Coast Legend Series feature.
“Winning took a while to set in,” Kearchner, of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, said. “I saw the checkered flag, drove by it [and] said to myself, ‘Wow, I just won the feature.’ For five years I’ve been close to winning, but never had things go the right way for me to win. There seemed to always be frustration during my first years of racing.”
Early on, Kearchner realized he was his own worst enemy.
“I couldn’t make the feature; I spun myself out; I got spun out,” said Kearchner. “I realized I was getting antsy, and I was over-driving.”
Kearchner then channeled his energy toward something positive.
“I step away and I take a walk,” Kearchner said. “It’s only natural that the heat of the moment gets people on the edge — and frustrated. I walk the pits and observe how other drivers are interacting with their crews. I watch the races — study how other drivers overtake the competition; how they enter and exit the turns. That calms me down and gets me in the mode I need to be in to race.”
Then he analyzes himself.
“I watch footage of myself racing — I learn so much,” said Kearchner. “Studying my own driving got me from finishing second to winning. I learned to race the track. A dirt track has a new feeling every lap. You have to make it through the turns, know where the ruts are and avoid them. Find the good grooves, avoid the bad grooves. Drive what the track gives you, not the way you think you can drive it. Then you can focus on passing.”
Lincoln Kearchner grew up watching his father, Seth, race and now competes with him on dirt, on pavement and even on road courses. His father jumping on him in victory lane certainly was different for the younger Kearchner.
“Over the years, it was me jumping on him when he won,” Kearchner said. “This victory lane was a first for both of us with him jumping on me.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
